MOVIES ABOUT MOUNTAIN CLIMBING

For the most part, I love 'em. Two of which I am especially fond are K-2 and Touching the Void. While drastically different in style and tone, both films adhere to Formal By-Law of Mountain Climbing Movies #1, which is "Thou shalt maximize actual mountain climbing footage when at all possible." Slightly less known, but of equal import, is By-Law #2, which states "Thou shalt minimize intrusive sub-plots that detract from adherence to By-Law #1."

The makers of Nordwand (2008) appear to be young upstarts who think they have no need for such silly, fuddy-duddy old rules. Better known in America as North Face, the film tells the story of two Bavarian climbers attempting to scale the dreaded north face of the Eiger in 1936. For those of you not in the know, the Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, about 13,000 feet in height, and infamous for repelling over-eager scalers into the infernal regions.

Attempting such a feat in 1936 was, as you can imagine, a source of pride for Nazi Germany. Granted, the political ramifications of such a sub-plot are certainly not irrelevant, and I wouldn't expect the film makers to leave it untouched. I would, however, expect to see some significant time on the great mountain before half the movie is over. We don't get that here. Instead, we are treated to an incredibly lame love story that I cannot imagine any fans of mountain climbing movies would possibly find interesting. In addition, we are reminded (again and again, and in every which way possible), that the Third Reich has its beady eyes on the two dare-devils. Yes, we get it. The Nazis were Bad People. Now let's climb that fucking mountain before geology has its way with it.